Donald Trump holds a broad 16-point lead among those likely to vote in South Carolina's Republican primary this Saturday,according to a new CNN/ORC Poll.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton tops Bernie Sanders by 18 points in the state's Democratic primary, which will be held a week later.
In the Republican race, Trump, at 38%, tops Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who holds second place with 22%. Behind those two, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio garners 14% support, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is at 10%, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has 6% and Ohio Gov. John Kasich is at 4%.
Trump's lead is bolstered by widespread perceptions of him as the candidate best able to handle the economy, immigration and ISIS, and further, that he has the best chance to win in November and would be most likely to change the way things work in Washington.
Voters in South Carolina are apt to say they trust Trump on social issues and on foreign policy, yet he is still near the top of the list of preferred candidates even on those issues.
Trump holds an even broader lead among white evangelical voters in the state, who typically make up a majority of Republican primary voters. He tops Cruz by nearly 20 points among this group: 42% Trump, 23% Cruz, 14% Rubio, 9% Bush, 5% Carson and 1% Kasich.
But voters' views on the contest aren't universally settled: About half of those likely to vote in Saturday's primary say they've already decided whom to support, the rest are leaning or still deciding. The poll suggests Trump's support may have softened after Saturday's debate among the GOP candidates.
February 27, tilt sharply toward Clinton over Sanders, 56% for Clinton to 38% for Sanders. Clinton's lead rests heavily on the state's black voters and women. Both groups made up a majority of voters in the 2008 primary there. Among black voters, she leads 65% to 28%, and among women, she leads 60% to 33%. White voters break in Sanders' favor, 54%for the Vermont senator to 40% for the former secretary of state, while men are about evenly divided between the two, 49% Clinton to 45% Sanders.
Still, Democratic voters in South Carolina aren't as firm in their choices as Democrats in New Hampshire or Iowa were, according to pre-election polling. In surveys ahead of the first two contests, majorities said they had made up their minds. In South Carolina, however, just 43% say they have definitely decided whom to support with about 10 days to go before Election Day.
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